This game is turning out to look awesome! I just wish that they had more pokemon than Tepig, Oshawott, Snivy, Pikachu, and Axew to start with, but still, it will be really cool. I've been hoping they would make something like this since Black and White came out. I sort of expected Pansear, Panpour, and Pansage to be starters too, though.

I've never been into this series enough to actually buy one myself (although I did enjoy Red Rescue Team), but I excited for this simply because it means we'll FINALLY get a decent pokemon game made specifically for the 3DS.

K so Serebii has pictures (which I believe are mostly from the trailer) and I guess I'll just post my thoughts on them.

If I had to guess, Hydreigon seems like the ideal Pokemon to be the game's primary antagonist. It seems like the perfect Pokemon for the job. Virizion seems like it will also play a prominent role in the game's storyline. I think Virizion could be the guild master of the game. Terrakion, Cobalion and possibly Keldeo could also possibly come into storyline, too, just as what happened with Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie.

A "magnagate" seems to a portal that appears when you use the 3DS' camera on a real life object.

For anyone who has trouble with Drifloon: try carrying a junk hold item (No-Aim Scope or whatever), and throw it at a Drifloon when you see one. It's not smart enough to drop it and turn Unburden back on. (Note: it has to be a junk item, because it may well get exploded when you kill the Drifloon.)

For anyone who has trouble with Drifloon: try carrying a junk hold item (No-Aim Scope or whatever), and throw it at a Drifloon when you see one. It's not smart enough to drop it and turn Unburden back on. (Note: it has to be a junk item, because it may well get exploded when you kill the Drifloon.)

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no, the main problem with drifloon is that generally you end up in the same room as it but you end up on the wrong side and can't toss anything to negate unburden before it starts sending 2 ominous winds, which = 2 chances to raise stats, and chances are you'll end up on the wrong side of murphy's law. iirc even skitties could be killed by ominous wind...

I calculated out some probabilities based on a single turn of encountering an opposing Drifloon in a dungeon room, assuming you cannot disable Unburden and it uses Ominous Wind at every opportunity.

The list below is absurdly long and covers all 140 different scenarios, but I've condensed them into spoilers.

Assumed mechanics:
- Unburden allows the Pokemon to make two moves in one turn, using only 1 PP.
- Ominous Wind has a 10% chance of boosting the user's Attack, Sp. Atk, Defense, Sp. Def, and movement speed by 1 stage.
- Stat boosts cap at +6. Movement Speed caps at +3 (4 moves per turn).
- At maximum speed, a Pokemon with Unburden can make 8 moves in 1 turn, using 4 PP in the process.

Key:
N = No boost
B = Boost
X = Boost not applicable because all stats are at +6 already

In the list below, something like "NBBNNN 570" means:
- Drifloon makes a move. Ominous Wind is used twice thanks to Unburden. The second time gets the 10% chance of a boost. (NB)
- Because Movement Speed is now +1, Drifloon can make two moves this turn, so it gets another move. It uses Ominous Wind twice thanks to Unburden. The first time gets the 10% chance of a boost. (BN)
- Because Movement Speed is now +2, Drifloon can make three moves this turn, so it gets another move. It uses Ominous Wind twice thanks to Unburden. Neither time gets the boost. (NN)
- Drifloon has now made the maximum three (six) moves for its Movement Speed, so the turn ends.
- Overall, the move did 60+60+90+120+120+120 = 570 base power damage, plus STAB. Ominous Wind now has 2/5 PP remaining.

And now for the gigantic list:

No boosts:
Probability 0.9*0.9 = 81%
Average base power = 120

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NN 120

One boost:
Probability 2*0.9^3*0.1 = 14.58%
Average base power = 315

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I hope I didn't make any mistakes in figuring the above out. If the above is accurate, then in the given scenario, Drifloon spamming Ominous Wind will do an average of 173.3 Base Power damage on the first turn, plus STAB. However, note that the 'mere' 120 base power for the 81% chance of getting no boosts drags this average down significantly. It would probably be better to represent the damage output as:
- 81% chance of 120 Base Power damage, plus STAB
- 19% chance of an average of 400.4 Base Power damage, plus STAB
Essentially, you're getting hit with something like STAB Outrage no matter what. However, on a chance approximately equal to Stone Edge's miss chance, you're getting hit with something on the order of three consecutive Draco Meteors all at once, without the stat drops. And with STAB. On the very first turn. That is going to hurt. A lot.

Also note again that this is only the first turn. Since it is hitting from across the entire room, it is likely to be able to attack again, and this time the boosts apply to all the hits, not just the later ones. I'll work out second turn probabilities later, if I feel like it.

actually, stat boosts do not cap at +6, but actually +10. OW has 8 PP (or was it 7? PMD has really funky PP numbers), movement speed ranges from -1 to +4 and immunities count for something like 1/4 resist iirc. Regardless, even if you survive you'll be facing down a monster with like +4 or 5 in all his stats and moving at like triple speed. This basically equals to, use a fucking Escape Orb immediately. pronto.

it's probably the only reason why you shouldn't exchange all your escape orbs for reviver seeds in sky >.>

also power levels iirc are calculated slightly differently in pmd, things like base power aren't exactly relevant and PP numbers are super funky. i might drag out my EoS to check for bp of moves if i have the time...

I actually thought stats cap at +8 in PMD. (Tested by spamming Bulk Up in Zero Isle South when I was about to use a Max Elixir.)

Also, Movement Speed doesn't normally give bonus attacks; you can only attack once (twice with Unburden) in a turn. However, possibly due to a glitch, if your Movement Speed increases in a turn, you get to move again, so Drifblim does get eight attacks per turn the first time. Only two on subsequent rounds, but by then it's probably too late.

Escape Orb is overkill for escaping from them, by the way. We're assuming you aren't in range to throw items over than Gravelerocks, but there are several room-affecting orbs that would work: Petrify Orb, Sleep Orb, Foe-Seal Orb, Foe-Fear Orb. (Probably also Confuse Orb; a confused Drifblim will hit itself as well as you with Ominous Wind, and it's likely to KO itself before it KOs you.) There are also seeds that would let you escape if eaten: Warp Seed (probably), Pure Seed (almost definitely, unless the stairs are in the room). Finally, you could use Teleport or Protect.

And yes, I've noticed that the damage formula is different. Base Power seems to have some effect, but it's very small. Defence stages also work differently: a couple of Bulk Ups can bring Bullet Seed's damage from 30 or so down to 1 or 2, which is definitely impossible in the main series games.

Also other orbs are generally situational: the only Orbs I ever find myself bothering to carry are Escape, Foe-Seal (or whatever, the one that petrifies everything on the floor) and Itemizer, and sometimes I forget to use the latter >.> F-S is the only orb other than Escape and Itemizer worth using, but it's also rare compared to Escape. Besides, you can grind for Escape Orbs in Marowak Dojo lol

Also other orbs are generally situational: the only Orbs I ever find myself bothering to carry are Escape, Foe-Seal (or whatever, the one that petrifies everything on the floor) and Itemizer, and sometimes I forget to use the latter >.> F-S is the only orb other than Escape and Itemizer worth using, but it's also rare compared to Escape. Besides, you can grind for Escape Orbs in Marowak Dojo lol

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Escape Orb means you fail the dungeon (you just get to keep your rewards up to that point).

For story progression or clearing bonus dungeons, it's the worst item in the game, because using it means you can't possibly win that attempt and have to start again.

Moreover, you cannot use Escape Orb if you are branded a thief by the Kecleon after stealing from their shop, unless you use a Pitfall trap or the stairs to move to the next floor. One very important reason for staying close to them while trying to recruit one of those bastards...

I'm stoked for the new Mystery Dungeon. I'd love to start off as Snivy. :D

My favorite game was Explorers of Sky because of the new features in the game, like the Spinda Cafe, for example. I always enjoyed watching Spinda spinning around while making the juice. And when I won with the Prize Ticket at Wynaut's Recycling...

For some reason when I played PMD, I always got Pikachu. But sometimes I've also gotten Shinx & Riolu. I've had my partner be Skitty & Vulpix & Riolu (when I wasn't).

If there was one Pokémon who I wish I could've gotten, it's Kecleon. I'm both sad and happy that Kecleon is such an ultimate Pokémon. I'm happy because, since Kecleon is my favorite Pokémon, it's great to see him as he is, but I'm sad because it's nearly impossible to recruit him.

I'm just hoping that it'll be easier to recruit him in the new game. <fingers crossed>

I'm stoked for the new Mystery Dungeon. I'd love to start off as Snivy. :D

My favorite game was Explorers of Sky because of the new features in the game, like the Spinda Cafe, for example. I always enjoyed watching Spinda spinning around while making the juice. And when I won with the Prize Ticket at Wynaut's Recycling...

For some reason when I played PMD, I always got Pikachu. But sometimes I've also gotten Shinx & Riolu. I've had my partner be Skitty & Vulpix & Riolu (when I wasn't).

If there was one Pokémon who I wish I could've gotten, it's Kecleon. I'm both sad and happy that Kecleon is such an ultimate Pokémon. I'm happy because, since Kecleon is my favorite Pokémon, it's great to see him as he is, but I'm sad because it's nearly impossible to recruit him.

I'm just hoping that it'll be easier to recruit him in the new game. <fingers crossed>

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Yeah, Kecleon is very hard to recruit, but with all requirements fulfilled in PMD2, then you still have a 0.5% chance. Just don't give up, man. :)

Moreover, you cannot use Escape Orb if you are branded a thief by the Kecleon after stealing from their shop, unless you use a Pitfall trap or the stairs to move to the next floor. One very important reason for staying close to them while trying to recruit one of those bastards...

and escape orbs are actually pretty decent if you don't want to burn all your reviver seeds (in instances such as having a ridiculously buffed drifloon chasing you down etc) or you're going to die anyway. i always bring along a couple with me for worst-case scenarios.

I recall getting my 8th Kecleon on my first attempt in RRT, I did the game more or less entirely with skitty/delcatty. It gets double slap early, which factoring in the OP-ness of multihit moves is incredibly powerful. I think I had maybe 6 Ginsengs on it and could ohko Kecleons. Also, Kecleon was great in joyous tower